1. Speaker Bio - Jon Ripans
Over the last two decades, Jon Ripans has developed diverse experience as an
attorney, property tax advocate, commercial real estate appraiser, and trained neutral.
With this rare cross-disciplinary perspective, he has been invited to speak on property
valuation, dispute resolution, and tax hearing procedure before a wide range of
audiences, including the American Bar Association/IPT Annual Conference, the IPT,
Georgia Association of Assessing Officials, the Georgia Department of Revenue, and
the Georgia State University School of Law. Jon has also published articles with the
Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Georgia and with the IPT.
Jon is the Secretary of the Property Tax Committee of the Real Property Law Section
of the State Bar of Georgia and is a registered Arbitrator and General Mediator. He is
the founder and principal at The Ripans Law Firm LLC and at Valuation Matters
LLC. Jon works on real estate and business valuation, property tax and related
matters with an array of law and appraisal clients, including banks, FDIC contractors,
real estate owners, and investors. A Candidate for Appraisal Institute Designation,
Jon has also successfully completed and is listed on the Institute’s Professional
Development Program Registry for the Valuation of Conservation Easements.
As a Certified General Real Property Appraiser, the highest level of professional
certification under state and federal law, Jon has evaluated $1.5 billion of commercial
real estate from Texas to Florida to New York. He has appraised a variety of
properties from shopping centers to mixed-use developments to a private airport. Jon
has served as an expert witness and litigation consultant in property tax and real estate
valuation cases.
Jon also serves as a court-appointed property tax arbitrator/referee. As one of the first
20 property tax Hearing Officers in Georgia, Jon conducted the state’s first property
tax appeal under the newly-minted County Hearing Officer regime.
Jon holds a B.A. in Government from Cornell University, a J.D. from the University
of Georgia, and an M.B.A in Finance from Georgia State University. He clerked on
the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and interned at the Supreme
Court of Georgia. Jon lives in Atlanta with his wife and two kids.